“You shouldn’t have cheat days but an occasional cheat meal is fine.”

Says the cute fitness influencer, smiling next to their “cheat meal,” trying to be relatable.

Here’s the thing:

Calling it a cheat meal puts you in a losing position right off the bat.

And no, I’m not about to be another cute influencer telling you to call it a "unicorn meal" and suddenly you’ll drop 20 pounds, feel amazing, and everyone will love you.

We’re not doing that shit here.

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Cool. Now that we’ve got that out of the way…

Imagine you’ve got an awesome training plan dialed in.

• 3 or 4 days a week
• Short
• Focused
• Helps you build muscle and strength

And it fits into your schedule like a glove. It’s just fucking perfect.

You show up, apply yourself, implement progressive overload, and then what happens?

Fatigue slowly builds up throughout the week.

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Now, you’ve got two paths you can take:

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Path 1: The Typical Path

You’ve been eating low calories and super “clean” all week.

By the weekend, your body’s screaming for more fuel.

So you “reward” yourself with a cheat meal.

That cheat meal turns into a cheat day. Then a cheat weekend.

Come Monday, you’re dragging, punishing yourself with cardio, hopping back on the clean-eating wagon.

The cycle repeats.

Result?

You stay weak, soft, and stuck. No muscle. No progress.

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Path 2: The Right Path

You’re in a slight calorie deficit through the week.

Just enough to drive fat loss—not so much that it wrecks your training or has you craving junk.

Sure, fatigue still builds. That’s normal.

But now you’re not starving. You’re not cheating.

You’re being strategic.

You implement a refeed meal—extra carbs, extra fats—on purpose to support recovery and performance.

Those nutrients set you up to crush Day 1 of your next microcycle (that’s just a fancy term for your training week).

And if your program’s built right, Day 1 should be your hardest training day—where you hit the muscle groups that need the most work.

Result?

You get stronger. You build muscle. You’re not hangry or miserable.

And most importantly, you stop assigning pointless emotional baggage to food.

You actually know what the hell you’re doing.

You could get away with the "cheat meal" bullshit in your 20s.

Your 40s, however, decide how the second part of your life will go.
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It doesn't mean you can't have fun.
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You just need to learn how to use it to your advantage.
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